An American Pakistani's Hope For Peace in South Asia & Around the World~

Terrorism Will Not Harm Pakistan Ties: China

As Reported By The Business Recorder

Cross-border terrorism in China’s ethnically divided far western region of Xinjiang will not harm the nation’s diplomatic ties with Pakistan and other neighbouring countries, a regional official said on Wednesday.

Chinese security authorities had found “countless ties between ‘East Turkestan’ terrorists and terrorists from our neighbouring countries,” regional government head Nur Bekri said, quoting the name used by members of the Uighur ethnic minority who seek an independent state in Xinjiang.

“But our neighbouring countries, especially Pakistan, have been declaring officially that in terms of any violent activity aimed at China, they will maintain China’s national security and core interests,” Bekri told reporters on the sidelines of China’s annual parliament.

He said the basic interests of China, Pakistan and other countries bordering Xinjiang were “the same.”
“So just a few terrorists will definitely not harm the China-Pakistan relationship,” Bekri said.

He said the vast region – which borders Pakistan, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan – was “generally stable” despite recent ethnic conflict and the threat of terrorism.
The government has reported several terrorist attacks that killed dozens of people in Xinjiang in the past few years.

But Uighur exile groups have accused China of using the global fight against terrorism as an excuse to suppress political and religious activity among Uighurs.
Ethnic violence and a clash with police left about 20 people dead in southern Xinjiang’s Yecheng town last week, according to reports by international rights groups and state media.

Xinjiang’s capital, Urumqi, and other areas of Xinjiang have remained tense since protests by Uighurs escalated into rioting that left about 200 people dead and 1,700 injured in the city in July 2009.